Culture Shock
by Trapdere
Summary: This is a story of four unlikely dead people who woke up to Simurgh's scream in the world of Worm in Madison, 2009 Dec. Miki Sayaka, Lelouch vi Britannia, Edward Elric, Irisviel von Einzbern. Focus on character development. Slow plot. Short, realistic(hopefully) fights. Hot blooded shounen battles don't happen in this fic. Rated M for language. Cover art by Sandara on deviantart.
1. Chapter 1 Coda (Sayaka)

Four unlikely people woke up in the world of Worm.  
Miki Sayaka, a girl betrayed by an innocent dream and died becoming that which she vowed to fight.  
Lelouch vi Britannia, a boy who planned and executed his own death for the sake of a lofty dream.  
Edward Elric, a man who lived a full life after having achieved his mundane dream.  
Irisviel von Einzbern, a woman who died never once having a dream to call her own.  
Here, dreams gives way to compromise, death is just a misstep away, and people die if they are killed. What will the four immigrants make of themselves in this merciless world?

 **THIS IS NOT A CROSSOVER WITH CULTURE**

Disclaimer, I do not own Worm, PMMM, FMA, Code Geass or Fate. They belong to Mr. Grimdark, Buchi the Butcher, Nicholas Flamel, Pizza Hut and A Certain Magical Mushroom, respectively.

Chapter 1 Coda (Sayaka)  
 _  
A mournful symphony surrounded what's left of a girl's wish. The symphony was bland but powerful, an empty mix of everything that music is but also nothing at the same time, repeating over and over and over and over and over. The clash of weapons on wood can be heard in the background._

So lonely.

A soulless band continued its purpose, uncaring of the world. The director moved mechanically, out of phase with the orchestra it's supposed to direct. Rows upon rows of empty seats bear witness to the end of a nightmare.

Miki Sayaka was dreaming.  
 _  
In the center of the stadium, hatefully, spitefully, despairingly, Oktavia von Seckendorff stared down the end of a serpentine spear buried inside it's torso. It's killer, a red headed girl, sat in unmoving prayer atop the spear._

I wonder why she cares.

The symphony turned into a cacophony of screams. Pieces of the stadium collapse, then fell into a bottomless void. Reality unraveled as the master of the Labyrinth died.

I can finally rest.

In the final moments of its life, Oktavia von Seckendorff saw its cherished orchestra, the one possession meant to accompany it for the rest of its miserable existence, came to a final stop, then the world falls into an endless darkness, along with a naive girl's dreams of becoming a hero to the people she loves. Only the unending, tortured scream remained.

If only...

Guilt. Regret. Despair.

The tides of negativity threatens to drown Sayaka as her pitiful end played itself yet again in her mind. Bolting upright with tears streaming down her face, she sobs quietly to herself. _If only I knew what becoming a magical girl would be like, I'd never have agreed to Kyubey's contract and become a magical girl. If only I listened to the red headed magical girl I wouldn't burn myself out fighting witches and familiars. If only I grasped the hand Madoka extended that night I wouldn't turn into a witch myself. If only I still had my eternal orchestra..._

A hand on Sayaka's shoulder startled her out of the dreams of her last memories before waking up in this place. Spinning around with a startled yelp, she saw a foreign woman with white hair and red eyes looking at her concernedly.

"Are you all right?" The woman looked like she wanted to say more, but then somewhat awkwardly closed her mouth.

Sayaka hastily wiped away her tears during the pause. "I'm just...I'm fine." She looked around searching for something to say, then realized that she's seated on the floor in a room she never saw before, probably not in Mitakihara or even Japan anymore judging from the english magazines strewn across the floor. It looks as if a hurricane went through the building. She then belatedly recognized that the surface she was lying on looked more like a wall than the floor. "Where is this? Do you know how I can get back home? How am I even alive...?"

Another voice, this time male, cut through Sayaka's panic. "Woah, slow down. One question at a time." A short blond teenager, "We're in somewhere none of us recognize," he swept his hand around indicating the red eyed woman still hovering uncertainly above her and an unnaturally still black haired _boy_ with a pale complexion and a very VERY sharp chin gazing out the a hole in the wall, "I don't know where you live and" here he paused, "Last I checked, I was older, taller, and very, very dead. And before you ask, we also don't know how we got here and what that scream is. I'm Edward by the way, Edward Elric."

"My name is Irisviel von Einzbern." A gentle, if somewhat formal tone, from the red eyed woman. Then the formal tone is gone, "You can call me Iri." She smiled at Sayaka, and offered her a hand.

"Miki Sayaka." Sayaka replied and stood up with the help, then noticed something that that Edward guy said, "Wait, you hear the scream too?"

Edward opened his mouth, but Irisviel shot him a glare silencing him. "Yes. It's been present for all the two hours I've been awake, and I'm the first of us to awaken." Then in a furious whisper to Edward's ear that Sayaka can barely make out, "Don't remind her of whatever she was crying about. Why else would she think the scream's only in her head?"

Sayaka sighed. She knew she's not her usual self, but there's no need to treat her like glass. To break the second awkward lull in the conversation in so many minutes, she put on what she hoped is her normal face and hollered to the one person who haven't spoken up yet, "Hey sharp chin, what's your name?"

Sharp Chin completely ignored her, not even taking his eyes off from the hole in the wall. He made a beckoning motion with his hand to the the other three people in the room.

With an annoyed huff, Sayaka stalked over to the _boy_ to give him a piece of her mind, only to see a angel/monster/thing floating up in the sky. The monster looked like a woman with hundreds of feathered wings attached haphazardly everywhere to her body and some even to other wings, and has debris, cars and even pieces of building floating around her. Sayaka looked around to reassure herself that, yes, she's not in a witch's Labyrinth, so that monster wasn't a witch. She was just about to use her soul gem to transform and go check out the monster, when she saw that instead of a grief seed, she actually still have her soul gem. _Huh, I guess I should've expected that given I'm alive and human again. I hope Madoka never make the same mistake I did, believing that conniving rat.  
_  
Just before she charged in, Sayaka saw that one of what she took to be orbiting debris is actually a human with a cape, who just then rammed into the monster with a crash that washed over her seconds later. It sent out a shockwave that visibly disturbed some of the smaller debris, and Sayaka hesitated. _I never want to turn into a witch again. Never. No matter what. I can't fight until I am sure I have enough grief seeds.  
_  
Sharp Chin finally deigned to speak up, "From your faces neither of you are sure that thing up there is safe. We will move to a safe location. There is a manned wall just a few kilometers away in the opposite direction that seems to encircle the whole city. Presumably going beyond that wall will keep us from whatever that monster's doing and also lessen or outright stop the scream from reaching us. Edward, you lead. Iri, grab the girl and follow him. I'll be right after you. Go along the street to the east and follow it till you see the wall, then wait there. I'll do the talking."

The red eyed woman took Sayaka's hand and started leading her after Edward, who was already moving in the indicated direction. She turned around when Sayaka followed slowly. "Let's go, Sayaka, you're safe. We'll be fine, just follow me." _Iri's such a worrywart, just like Mami. Always looking out for me. I like her._

With new determination, Sayaka jogged after Iri. _I will help once I have the grief seeds, just you wait.  
_  
AN: I'm tired of flaming people's fics and decide to get flamed myself for once to balance out my bad karma.

 **There will be no more crossovers. Everything else in the fic would come from wormverse.  
**

Note that Sayaka is Post-Witchout!Sayaka so she'd be a bit less brash and confident but still somewhat a typical tomboy, Edward would be more mature as he lived his whole life, but still the easy going nerd we know and love. Lelouch is more carefree but still a cunning bastard who likes to steal the show, and Iri would most likely try mother everyone as dealing with Illya took up an entire half of her experience in human interactions.

ffnet screws with my formatting. I don't think I've caught everything. Crossposted on SV under username ID Abao.

Last edited: 2018/06/05


	2. Chapter 2 Revelations (Lelouch)

Chapter 2 Revelations (Lelouch)

 _Why is it_ , Lelouch thought not for the first time, _that these people never get TIRED?!_ He laboriously climbed over another pile of rubble that once belonged to a certain Starshucks "The bes… ffee in Madison". Cursing the design that caused the asymmetric building to tumble into the middle of the road instead of just collapsing, Lelouch tried and failed to catch up to the three anomalies he picked up.

 _This is fucking ridiculous. Outpaced by a freaky twelve year old with freaky blue hair. Second time going through a war zone, still frail as a stick. What have I done all these years? Ah yes. Leading from the frontline. If only piloting knighmares actually builds muscles._

Over the past hour they were trudging through what was barely recognizable as a city. In the distance bursts of golden light illuminated the sky like a second sun. Hopefully whatever's happening back there would stay back there.

 _I simply cannot operate with such a severe lack of information. Is this how my enemies usually feel? Heh, at least they had the excuse of an intelligent opponent._

Despite his inner grumbling to keep his mind off the burning in his limbs, Lelouch was still taking note of the surrounding for a clue on where they were. _This Madison looks more like a Britannian city than a Number's ghetto_.

The signs and books he saw earlier were mostly in Britannian, but he had never heard of a place called Madison. Together with the lack of Knightmare response and the multiple superhumans fighting the monsters in the sky, Lelouch was fairly certain that this Madison is either an elaborate hallucination on his part or somewhere not on earth. Not on his earth, at least. He'd have to check the stars tonight to make sure. If it's an alternate universe like he was beginning to suspect, at least it wasn'y as weird as C's world, the "place" where the collective unconscious minds of humanity manifests.

Lelouch was so absorbed in his musings that he missed when Edward reached the wall, and by the time he caught up, _Sayaka fucking Miki_ was already arguing with some security details guarding the perimeter of the city.

"…us out, we are good people! You can't just block off a road and keep people out like that!" Sayaka screamed at the top of her lungs while trying to break out of Irisviel's grip to storm the wall. To the side, for some reason Edward was eying the wall as if measuring it.

"…away from the fence!" The voice sounded over a loudspeaker, gruff, authoritarian. "This area is under quarantine! Seek shelter and wait for further instructions! If you approach or touch the fence, you will be shot!"

 _I told them to let me do the talking, and what does she do? Try to pick a fight and talk over a megaphone. If I'm not in here with her, this would be such an enjoyable show. Damn my luck getting stuck here with an idiot._

Deciding to put an end to this farce, Lelouch walked up to the girl and gripped her shoulder. Hard. "Leave the talking to me, Sayaka. You are not helping." Sayaka looked like she still wants to continue, but a _look_ from Irisviel silenced her, then she looked down, depressed. _Let's worry about that headache later_.

Holding up his hands to his side and putting on his innocent student's face, Lelouch opened his mouth, a sob story on the tip of his tongue. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted most of the soldiers tense just as he made to step forward. He immediately aborted his motion and smoothly changed track, "Officer, Sayaka here is stressed from moving through the city, and doesn't mean any harm. I'll impress upon her how dangerous it is to ignore advice from the military later, I promise. We'll back away now. Sorry for your inconvenience."

Edward turned away from the wall and walked up to Lelouch, a serious look on his face. The blond is the rare type of person that remains calm in the face of surprises, and would make a valuable ally if they were to figure this place out. As expected, out of the three others only he noticed something is off. Another point in his favor for his observation skills.

"Did you notice…"

Lelouch cut him off, "That they were _terrified_? Whatever they think we are, they think we are dangerous. The way rehearsed way he warned us to back off gives the impression that _anyone_ in the quarantine is considered dangerous, and they weren't even _trying_ to hide this fact. They also tried to avoid shooting us despite being afraid. Once we're further from the wall, we can just ask with little risk."

Edward nodded grimly. _He gets the gravity of the situation. Unlike some people._ Lelouch motioned for the party to follow, and walked away from the wall. He secretly sighed in relief when three sets of footsteps followed him instead of two.

 _Sayaka Miki. An Eleven, no, Japanese name. Her well cared for hands had never seen a day of work, but while she speaks Britannian she doesn't speak well enough for a Britannian, honorary or not. If my conjecture is correct, she might not be from my world either. This gives weight to this Madison not being in my original world, since she woke up in the same circumstances as I._

Turning around once the wall was at the edge of hearing distance, Lelouch spoke in a clear voice, "Officer, _someone_ here" Sayaka glared at him, "needs to hear it from another person the reason we should stay inside to be convinced that we aren't pulling her leg just to get her to listen. Might I humbly enlist your help in enlightening her?"

The soldier that spoke earlier took up the megaphone again, "I regret to inform you that until proven you are not altered by the Simurgh's scream, we cannot and will not let anyone out. The PRT will be screening people who want to leave after the capes drive the Simurgh back, please patiently await further instructions until then." His tone made it clear he considers them, while being a serious threat, are still citizens under the protection of law. _The paradoxical approach means whatever the Simurgh's scream do, it's not voluntary nor easily identifiable._

After properly thanking the security, Leouch combed through the words for whatever information he can glean, and came to a conclusion.

 _We ARE in a different world. The way he phrased it, ordinary people are expected to know about that monster. Interesting name, the Simurgh. As if it is so far above humanity that defeating it is as unthinkable as felling a diety. They also expect to drive the Simurgh back. The whole situation reeks of third party meddling, I'll have to keep that in mind. Whatever the case, the best course of action is to establish a base of operation, secure supplies, then wait this out._

"Why did you blame me…" Sayaka started.

"Fishing for information," Lelouch snapped. "I need a reason to ask him something someone from around here might not need to ask, and you handed me the perfect excuse," __

 _Calm down Lelouch, biting her head off won't help anyone._ Taking a deep breath, he started again in a milder tone, "We are in a delicate situation. Please just let me handle things. I will explain later, once we find a place to rest."

Sayaka looked at him with watering eyes, then turned away with a jerk of her head, "Alright. I need some time alone right now."

Wilting under the Irisviel's furious glare, Lelouch sighed again. "We should find a suitable place to hole up to wait out this Simurgh attack," he eyed the depressed Sayaka, "Then we can find some place to unwind. Also, we'll raid a few stores on the way." Sayaka turns to him and opens her mouth, but Lelouch preempted her protest, "The owners have mostly evacuated and I doubt they will be back before the food soils anyway." Sayaka shut her mouth with a click, and returned to brooding. "It's late, and we should get going if we don't want to startle the soldiers stationed on the wall being around in the dark."

Unenthusiastic murmurs of assent followed. Irisviel just nodded.

They uneventfully grabbed some ready-made food from a nearby fast food shop (WcDonalds, I'm likin' it!) and settled down in a nearby hospital that's surprisingly still staffed.

The Simurgh fled the golden man somewhere during the evening.

Sayaka shut Irisviel and herself in a room upon arrival, still slightly unhappy but no longer depressed if the lively complaints about Lelouch being a douchebag drifting through the door is any indication. He smiled at the "razor chin" comment from the energetic girl.

Lelouch went about gathering much needed information on their situation. Better leave the explanations until later when he can get them all together so he doesn't have to repeat himself.

That night, Lelouch learned that the medical personnel are volunteers, there to help those who didn't or weren't able to evacuate in time. Capes, the local supernatural combatants, are called in from all over the world to fight the Endbringers; Behemoth, Leviathan and the Simurgh. The PRT and protectorate are the governing bodies for North American capes, though only a fraction of the capes fall under their jurisdiction.

He also learned that the PRT screening, or the D.D.I.D. outtake process, would start later that week.

Laying in an actual bed across from the loudly snoring form of Edward and his gleaming metal prosthetics that Lelouch only just noticed, Lelouch shuddered at the memory of Irisviel's evil smirk promising pain just before he turned in for the night. The women in his life scares him sometimes.

Familiar constellations stared down at him through unfamiliar windows.

 _To return to my Britannia...that door was closed the moment I sat on the throne. I wonder if I can make this world my own instead._

 _Nunnally, would you approve of me to trying to live life once again?_

A/N  
I planned a fight for this chapter. Then I checked the worm timeline, and things didn't check out. So the plot this chapter is cut short by half, but somehow still ended up with 1.5k words. Congrats, me, good planning.  
On languages:  
Amestris (where Ed came from) speaks German. This Ed traveled widely post canon, so he also knows others languages, English among them. Xingnese is Chinese (Xing is a copy of ancient China if you know what to look for). Britannian _is_ English. Lelouch also has contacts in EU, and being the genius he is of course he picked up a few European languages. Iri speaks German, English and Japanese because they are the most likely languages she'll encounter as a grail for the Fuyuki Grail War or as a Einzbern Homunculus so they were installed on birth. Sayaka speaks good Japanese and passable Engrish, but with a strange Japanese accent.

Everything in this fic, unless specifically pointed out (I'm planning on using underline), is in English.

Last edited :2018/06/05


	3. Chapter 3 Away from Home (Irisviel)

Chapter 3 Away from Home (Irisviel)

That morning, Lelouch gathered them all around a table during breakfast to debrief them on their current situation, sending wary glances in Iri's way all through the explanation.

"...that we are in a different world." Iri felt a pang of sympathy for Sayaka, gaping at the news. A piece of toast falls out of her mouth. Iri patted her on the back, and received a grateful look for her troubles.

She'd known right from the start. The cessation of Gaia's ever present assault on her unnatural body was a dead giveaway.

The thing that surprised her the most, was how the capes, unlike in Kiritsugu's stories, weren't at all secretive. They were just there, in the everyday life of the uninitiated. Faces on the news, names on sanitary products, and even touring schools regularly.

When Lelouch ended his speech on the Endbringers, specifically the Simurgh and how her scream is thought to turn people into the so called Simurgh bombs, Iri decided to chime in,

"The Simurgh projects a weak compulsion to all around it. I don't know what the scream does, but it has nothing to do with the compulsion. The effect is mild, usually in the form of stress, depression and mistrust, sometimes just a nudge in the right direction to make the victim think of something specific."

Ed looked troubled at hearing that. "Would it be able to bring up our memories from another world? It wouldn't _know_ what to bring up in the first place."

"The Simurgh is rumored to be a telepath, so it might just be able to read your mind, _then_ pull up whatever memory it is she wants,"Lelouch reasoned, "Do we need to watch out for anything, Edward? I understand if you might be mentally unstable after getting mind fucked by a monster."He spat out the last few words. _There's a history there. He sounded way too agitated during that last part._

"No, but thanks. It was just...I failed to save a person once. I had to attend his funeral with his three year old daughter and his widow, both friends of mine. I don't have any urge to avenge them by rampaging or anything though. I don't see how it could be any problem." Ed said it all quickly, if a bit dejectedly. _He must have dwelled on this often. Poor kid._

Iri simply hugged Ed, feeling his tense shoulders relax slightly after a few moments. She grabbed Sayaka in the group hug for good measure.

 _I shouldn't have hesitated when I tried to comfort Sayaka back there when she woke crying. I noticed the compulsion a bit too late, but fortunately nothing came of it._

Iri then looked questioningly at Lelouch, who just shook his head with a polite smile.

A few moments later, she released a still dejected Ed and a grinning Sayaka, whose grin dimmed upon seeing Ed's face. _Let's move the topic to something happier._

In her normal voice, Iri continued, "The compulsion is easy enough to break, and it didn't last long after the Simurgh's gone anyways. Don't worry; everyone is free of it by now."

As the silence stretched on, Iri searched her mind for something to say, anything, to take their minds off the grim topic.

Ahh I know of a good distraction.

She turned to glare at Lelouch and nudged her head in Sayaka's direction. She'd let him off easy this time. It wasn't _entirely_ his fault that he was a jerk to Sayaka yesterday. _He's a smart kid, he'll understand what I'm doing._

Lelouch had the look of a man who finally found salvation. He quickly walked over and knelt beside Sayaka with a flourish. He kissed her hand like a knight does a princess's in fairy tales, then said, "I apologize for being harsh with you yesterday, I wasn't myself but under the Simurgh's sway. My fair, fair lady, would you please forgive me?"

Iri missed Sayaka's reply, too busy squealing in her mind over the adorable display, but judging from Sayaka's quickly reddening face, she probably forgave him. _I'll remember to get a boy to do this to Illya just to see her squirm, if I see her again. When. When I see her again._

After Lelouch let go he went back to his seat as if nothing happened. Sayaka finally unfroze and pointed an accusatory finger at the raven haired boy, still blushing like a tomato, "Hentai!" **

Inner Iri squealed again. Ed sighed somewhere in the background. _Now there's the problem child of my merry little band of midgets. It won't do to leave him out even if he pretends to be an old man._

Lelouch paled at the mischievous gleam that must be present in her eyes, and even Ed eyed her suspiciously. _Now how do I get him all flustered like Sayaka and…_

"AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" A female scream of agony pulled her out of her thoughts.

"It came from across the hall," Ed bolted out of their little room, with Sayaka hot on his heels. They were gone before Iri even realized what had happened. She blinked in surprise. _Well, that happened._

Shaking herself out of the stupor, Iri grabbed Lelouch's hand, and quickly followed. Trying and failing to mask the worry in her voice, "Come on, let's go make sure they're not in trouble." The scarily calm face of Lelouch made Iri doubt the necessity of her attempt.

An alarm sounded. The woman screamed again, a howl, almost ragged.

They reached the door in question to see Sayaka shoulder checking the door as if expecting it to budge. She bounced off harmlessly, and then just stood there with a conflicted look on her face, indecision plain on her face.

Ed clapped his hand together and was about to do _something_ when a uniformed man roughly shoved him aside, body slammed into the door, and charged in.

"What the hell are you doing!?" the uniform screamed.

Suddenly the uniformed man was back outside with a confused look where Ed was previously standing, and Ed vanished. He was there one moment and gone the next, without a sound, without any warning. _Just gone_.

Before Iri had time to panic, the room was engulfed in flickering blue lights and the door sealed itself shut, melting together from the walls. A few moments later, the door reappeared. Iri rushed into the room after the Uniform, and saw a muscular man caught in a hand made of concrete as large as a person while Ed looked up from over a prone woman lying on a bed.

"She needs medical help. Now," Ed said urgently to the uniformed man, who was now warily keeping his distance from Ed. It took a moment for him to decide that yes, the situation was under control, and he would be helping more by calling for help. He took off at a jog.

Deciding to ignore the sealed windows and the giant concrete hand for the moment, Iri quickly made it to the bedside of a woman, who was now panting and looking around in fear, "Krouse…?"

Iri simply shushed her, and moved a hand to her forehead with the intention of healing her. Right before she made contact, however, her surroundings changed and she saw Ed standing where she was, looking more annoyed than confused.

Ed reached over to the wall and blue lightning flashed. The concrete hand that restrained the muscular man became a full oblong sphere completely hiding him from sight.

 _Elemental manipulation directly using ambient mana?! No, one thing at a time._

Iri went back over to the woman now shrinking into the bed away from Ed, and put on the gentle smile she used to comfort Illya whenever she had a nightmare. "Miss, you are safe from the man over there now. I just need to check if your body is as healthy as you seems. "

The woman's eyes darted to Ed, then back to her, and she shrinked back a little more. "What did you do to K… him?"

Sayaka picked that time to poke her head into the room, "Cosplayers incoming. They look to be the 'Capes'," Iri can hear the quotation marks, "that so happens to be the big bads around here." Lelouch drifted in after her, looking smug.

"Please let him go. He was trying to save me from a fatal injury, and look, I'm healthy now." The woman was now panicking, eyes darting to the door every so often and breathing faster and faster. "Your civilian identities are safe with me. We promise not to tell anyone about this. _Please._ "

Iri looked to Ed, who banished the concrete cage after some hesitation, then to the impassive Lelouch who seemed to be deep in thought over something the woman said. The imprisoned man slumped at seeing the lack of windows and moved to stand between Ed and the bedridden woman.

Lelouch smoothly took over at seeing her questioning look, "Very well, you may leave, but on one condition." He paused for dramatic effect, and faced the two original inhabitants of the room in turn, " ** _Forget us_** and **_forget what happened in this room, then leave immediately._** " They nodded stiffly and went about gathering their possession, not even bothering to argue.

"Unseal the windows, Edward. Krouse over there will take care of their retreat. And clear away any signs of whatever you did just now. Now, I'll talk to the capes, and please keep from mentioning anything Edward did. We saw nothing except the aftermath." Lelouch addressed mostly Sayaka with the second half.

Seeing Sayaka about to question Lelouch, Iri went over to her and put a hand on her head. Sayaka quieted with a quizzical look her way. Quietly, "He'll probably explain later, when we have the time." Sayaka nodded and went back to watching Lelouch do Lelouch things, who at the moment was furiously whispering to Ed.

Feeling somewhat proud of Sayaka's restraint and Lelouch's confident handling of this situation, Iri sat on a bed and pulled Sayaka down beside her. She kept running her hand through Sayaka's hair and felt the girl relax a bit. _It's so soft and fluffy 3_

There was a thump, as a policeman appeared in the woman's place looking as confused as she first had when she…when she swapped places with Ed! _So that's the trick._ Then the man was gone, with a loud pop followed by a surprisingly strong gust of wind. She caught Sayaka before she tumbled backwards.

 _That man, Krouse is his name, can swap people around. Don't know about that last pop though. So this is what a cape does. He didn't use prana for any of his swaps, so what else is powering his magecraft? And that reminds me, Ed and his own brand of magecraft. The direct manipulation of ambient mana without converting them into his own prana, such a feat would be a huge deal back at home. If only Kiritsugu was here, he probably could explain everything. How he handled this special kind of headaches I'll never know._

Iri smiled fondly at her memories of the man she loved. _He must have won the war and saved the world, just like he promised. My only regret is that I can't be there to tease Illya as she grows up, away from the horrors of the Grail War. I wonder if she would like Sayaka as a friend. God knows, even nearly ten years older she still has the energy to keep up with Illya. They'd look so cute together 3_

Finally, the other group of cape burst into the room. The man in the lead looked like Gandalf the brown, but with his face completely hidden in his hood. Iri giggled a bit at that thought, much to Sayaka's puzzlement. Gandalf immediately homed in on her. She sheepishly ducked her head. _Oops, sorry Lelouch._

"PRT. There were reports of a parahuman incident here. What happened?" Gandalf had an exhausted air about him. He looked a lot more tired than even the early hour warrants.

"Ehhh…There's this cape, he did something strange? Teleported people around…?" Iri fumbled her words, not yet able to banish the mental picture of the wizardly cape saying "You shall not pass" in the place of the hated _red lights_ during her fun time of fun with the wonderful toy Kiritsugu bought her. _Maybe I should take my two new lovely midgets plus tall dark and adorable out on a ride sometimes, once I get my own Mercedes-Benz 300SL._ There never was any doubt in her mind that she willl get to play with her favorite toy in this world.

Cue a magnificent facepalm from Lelouch. He smoothly took over yet again, _he's such a helpful kid,_ "We heard screams coming from this room, and came to investigate. There was a woman leaning heavily on a man in here when we came in. They walked towards the windows, the man said something to the women, then they were gone. The officer over there," he pointed to the policeman busy making himself look smarter to Gandalf, "popped in instead. Can you tell us what exactly is going on, mister…?"

"Myrddin. Is anyone hurt?" Myrddin, not Gandalf, replied. Seeing shakes of heads all around, he turned to his fellow capes, "Nothing to do here. Let's go."

They watched as the local capes dragged their feet going back to whatever they were doing. In an eerily synchronized move Sayaka and Iri turned to Lelouch expecting an explanation.

"The woman earlier volunteered to keep our civilian identities secret as a condition to let them go. And notice how the capes all had their faces hidden. If we nonchalantly sat in a room with signs of superhuman battle with our faces bare, at best we will be remembered as ignorant or foolish capes, at worst we can out ourselves as otherworlders."

"Sayaka, Irisviel, I don't know what powers you have, but it is obvious neither of you are normal. Edward has his alchemy and I am not without secrets," _that really did look like alchemy, if you ignore the process and focus on the results,_

"

We _will_ be known as capes, sooner or later. This is not a good first impression to leave to the PRT, us fighting in a hospital of all places." _Us. He considers himself one of us. Something must have changed his mind yesterday._

"

This way, we're just be four nobodies that they will forget, and hopefully never connect us to the witnesses of a random parahuman incident during a Simurgh attack." Lelouch concluded with a dramatic turn that would've look pretty impressive if he was still wearing the cloak he had on when he woke up, but discarded during their trek through the city. Instead he just looked like an idiot.

It seemed he realised it after the fact, and sulked off to a corner doing whatever boys do when they're sulking.

Saber would probably talk his head off about using such cowardly tactic, something about hiding oneself in the shadows and whatnot. Kiritsugu, on the other hand, would wholeheartedly approve. And then come up with an even more effective plan of turning this situation to our advantage. What would I do in their place?

A loud siren broke the silence following Lelouch's speech. An announcement replaced it a few moments later,

" _Attention_ , _citizens of Madison, please prepare to move to the nearest building with a PRT symbol for the D.D.I.D. outtake process. Bring your belongings with you as there will be no coming back once you depart the city quarantine. The procedure will start at 4PM. Thank you for your cooperation."_

It took a few moments for the announcement to really hit home. A rush of emotion welled up in her chest, bittersweet melancholy that she cannot put in words. _I'm going to see the outside world again, just like Kiritsugu promised. But I'm here in this strange world, without a way back home._

I miss you, Illya, Kiritsugu. So very much.

**Hentai=pervert in japanese. I pity whoever needs this glossary to understand (jk).

A/N Inb4 No I didn't nerf Simurgh's scream, it never was that strong a compulsion, it just worked in ways that only a super precog can foresee. By pushing the victim towards a certain direction, setting them down a path of a string of events that will eventually result in the desired madness.  
The danger of the scream came from the effect being almost undetectable, mostly uncounterable and the unavoidable, drastic end result, but the initial push never had to be powerful. This is basically directed butterfly effect.

Edit: It's so hard to write a story in the present tense, I had to edit half the verbs from past tense every chapter just to keep consistent. And I probably missed even more.

Edit #2: Yay. Back to past tense. Combing through the fic it seemd I mostly reverted to past tense even before this pass. Lol.

Edit #3: Iri explanation of Simurgh's compulsion changed slightly to fix something I missed.

Last Edited: 2018/06/14


	4. Chapter 4 Dissonance (Edward)

Chapter 4 Dissonance (Edward)

Sayaka was in the middle of an arguement with Lelouch about who's going to go through the outtake process first. Lelouch isn't fooling anyone but Sayaka that he had a hidden motive in trying to go first, but enjoyed arguing with Sayaka too much to put an end to it. Iri seemed disinclined to help him out either, going by the too-perfect-to-be-innocent smile of hers. Two of the six other occupants of the waiting room looked on with disapproving frowns, while the rest avoided eye contact with them.

"Hey, shorty, Lelouch is bullying me and Iri wouldn't stop him, help~~!"Sayaka's loud voice echoed in the closed space.

It took Ed a moment to realize that Sayaka is talking to him. The last time anyone called him that was what was essentially his wife's terminal lucidity talking. Since then, the only people who knew this quirk of his youth was himself and his daughter, who heard it mostly from the late Al and Mei. _Thank god Winry convinced me not to name her Nina, it wouldn't do if I can't even look at my own daughter without seeing someone else._

He couldn't work up the energy to get bothered by the short stature he regained upon waking up in this strange world. _It's no longer my body anyway. Is this world even real? Or am I just dreaming?_

"C'mon! Why does everyone ignore meeeeeeee?" Sayaka whined, "Fine, you go first. Just don't come running back to me when you fail the test!" She stomped to a seat across from them and turned her head away with an exaggerated _hmmph_.

At four PM sharp, a number was called, and Iri handed Lelouch one of the four number cards she collected from the reception desk outside earlier. She then scooted a few over to the seat beside Ed.

"I know that look, young man. Do not persume you can hide it any longer. I can see it clearly," That evil smirk again, "you're in love with me."

Sayaka perked up.

 _In love with... really? That's the best you can come up with?_

"No I'm not, and you know it."

Iri's smirk turned into a pout, "Killjoy. You're supposed to be flustered like a normal teenager, or at least play along."

Ed replied in a deadpan, "I'm happily married, in case you're wondering."

Iri pointed at him triumphantly, nodding to something in her mind," _This_ is precisely what I'm talking about! You're too young to be so...so...boring like an old man tired of life," She now looked concerned, "What is bothering you?"

Sayaka wasn't even pretending not to listen at this point.

"You don't understand. I _am_ old. Well, I was, before I d... came to Madison. I'm 69, if that's what you're wondering." Ed countered in a whisper.

"I know that feeling." _Great. Now she's trying to comfort me._ "Don't worry, you grow into your age, it just takes time. Even if at first you feel like you're pretending, you slowly get used to thinking yourself as...eighteen? Nineteen? Just relax and let your brain chemistry do the work for you," Iri flashed another of her signature smirk, "I promise, in a month or two you can be just another hormone driven brat set out to give us adults headaches."

"How would you know that," Ed snarked quietly while thinking to himself, _I might just try to be a teenager again. It can't get any weirder than it already is anyway._

"Well, I am nine." Iri whispered back. "Twelve, if you count the first three years I was just a normal, unthinking homunculus that...,"

Ed didn't hear the rest.

 _Envy._ Elicia's cries at the funeral of her father flashed through Ed's mind.

"...me...can't...breath..."

Ed had grabbed the monster's throat with his left hand while grabbing with his right for something, anything to stab the monster with. He had let the it get close to other people again, not suspecting a thing. _You won't get anyone with me here._

"...hurt...you..."

Suddenly Ed's arms were bound painfully in white strings, and he was forced to release the choke he held Envy in. The surprise of feeling cold steel touching his left arm reminded him that he no longer had his fleshy right arm, again. _No wait, she's not Envy. The Ouroboros on Envy's leg is missing._

Irisviel dropped to the floor breathing hard, a hand still outstretched at him, the other at her throat. She looked up at him, more shocked than angry.

 _Right. Different world. Different rules. Different kind of homunculi._ Ed realized his mistake as he tried to slow his wildly beating heart. _Thank god I'm used to using my hands and not alchemy. I should not have access to alchemy._

Sayaka was in a strange dress with a sword held in her hands and ready to jump between them, eyes dancing uncertainly between them. The other occupants of the room had fled the scene, probably during Ed's blind panic.

"What the heck was that?!" Sayaka all but screamed in his face.

Ed stopped trying to finish the simple deconstruction circle he was drawing on his clothes with his right hand which would dissolve what he recognized as Iri's hair.

"Bad memories. The homunculi from my home were... dangerous foes. I'm sorry." Ed winced at his own words. _Yeah, apologizing makes everything alright to someone you nearly killed._

Iri looked into his eyes for a few seconds and seemed to see something she wanted. Then she released him. "It's fine, Sayaka. He apologized. I'm sure he meant it." _She's far too forgiving for her own good._

Sayaka glanced at him again, then in a flurry of light her clothes transformed back into the quirky t-shirt and short skirt they got from raiding empty stores yesterday. She held a shiny teal stone in her hand after the transformation, then it too turned into a ring in much the same way her clothes changed, in a flash of light.

Ed eyed the stone warily. _Let's hope that isn't some kind of philosopher's stone. I don't see where she'd get the iron for her sword otherwise, but still, different world, different rules. How much of what I know is true here, if any?_

A surprisingly calm voice called from beyond the door for the next person to take the processing. It was as if the examiner didn't hear the scuffle outside.

Sayaka was reluctant to go, but Iri managed to shoo her through the door with some reassurance that she can handle a crazy old man if it came to that. _That woman is scarily good with kids for a self-proclaimed twelve year old._

Ed sat in silence. Iri looked deep in thoughts, her hands resting primly on her lap. A clock on the wall ticked away in the background.

 _Tick._ A bird chirped by the window.

Tock.

Iri's hand went to rub her throat.

 _Tick._ A stranger came in with a number card and sat down at the other end of the room.

Tock.

The muffled sound of some machinery moving came through the door.

A few more minutes passed in silence, and the same voice from before called for the next person in line. Iri handed Ed his number card. He went in.

He saw a man in a doctor's white coat sitting behind a desk with a device that all three of his companions seemed to recognize as a computer facing away from where he stood. Behind the doctor two guards decked in black bulky uniforms with a big PRT printed in bold letters stood at ease, each holding a rifle pointing to the ground. There was a door between the guards that persumably led to the truck parked outside. To the side there was a large tube like machine of unknown purposes, large enough to fit a person lying down inside.

The futuristic technology of this world is, well futuristic. He checked the calander, he was about 100 years in the future. Ed didn't think he would ever get used to seeing a phone that small, with all the features a phone should have and much more.

"Name," The doctor asked in a flat monotone.

"Edward Elric."

"Place of residence."

"Er...I travel a lot?"

"Date of birth,"

"Feburary third, 1899."

"What do you remember of the last few days?"

Ed hesitated. He could make up a story, but had no way to check with the others. "I think..."

"Did you notice anything different after the Simurgh attack?"

"Wait, I'm still sorting through my memories, yesterday was chaotic." Ed hedged.

"Name of the three Endbringers?"

"Simurgh, um…... Leviath..." _It's like a fantasy story, with real monsters out there waiting to end humanity. At least Father had a history._

The doctor cut him off, "Current president of the United States?"

"What...?"

"Name a single Hero of the Madison Protectorate." _What's with all these random superpowers the cape have anyway?_

"I don't know."

"Alright, that's all the questions. Now, if you would sit here and wait for the MRI scan." The doctor continued in his monotone.

Ed stood, ready for something. The only reason he hadn't bolted right then was that the guards were still looking at the wall behind him, bored, making no move to point their rifles in his direction. The doctor pressed a few buttons on the machine, and laid down in the machine himself.

Ed waited tensely for a few seconds as the machine did its work, and then the doctor climbed off the machine, and went back to his desk.

"Alright, we have determined that you don't bear any signs of being a immediate danger to fellow human beings. You may go. Go through the door here," he pointed to the door between the guards, "then get on the truck as instructed by the officers on site. You will be ferried out of the quarantine." The doctor finished in the monotone he used throughout the examination.

Spooked now, Ed made tried to look at the screen of the computer as the doctor typed a few more letters into his file. He got only a glimpse, but what he saw didn't match up. His name wasn't Alan Spencer, for one, which what the file said. And he was pretty sure he wasn't born on Dec 26th, 1990.

The doctor looked at him expectantly after finishing up and waited patiently for him to leave through the back.

Deciding to just go with the flow for now, Ed went through the door and saw the promised truck. Another PRT agent led him onto the back and stood guard back by the door.

He found Sayaka and Lelouch in a corner, the only occupants. For once they weren't arguing. Lelouch was in the middle of browsing the internet, while with Sayaka looking over his shoulder occasionally commenting on a certain "void cowboy" being jerk. He'll have to try the internet thing sometimes himself.

The strange behavior of the doctor back there was nagging Ed, and he suspects Lelouch had something to do with it. Ed still remembered how the Krouse guy and his companion he fought earlier responded with just the same tone after Lelouch told them to forget everything that happened in the hospital. Now that he thought of it, the lack of any kind of haggling or argument was strange.

Lelouch must have spotted Ed's troubled face. He gave the compact phone to Sayaka with a promise to check what she looked at later, and came over to Ed.

"Yes, I had something to do with that. Yes, I'll tell you what and how, we'll wait for Iri so I don't have to repeat myself." Lelouch listed off in quick succession, but somehow answered his unvoiced questions.

Now really suspicious, Ed asked the other question on his mind, "What's your real age, eh? You did better at pretending to be a kid than I did, not that I tried to hide it in the first place."

Lelouch looked surprised, then he laughed out loud, a more carefree sound than Ed would have expected out of the broody teen. _A mind reader he is not. Probably. I actually wouldn't be surprised if he is, this world makes no sense._

He waited patiently for Lelouch to calm down, and said, "No really, I'm 69 _before_ , Iri just revealed that she was twelve, now I'm curious about you."

Sayaka pretended not to listen as she kept here eyes on the phone, but the way she stilled and was leaning towards them gave away her attention. _She really have to work on her stealth she thought_ that _was sneaky._

Finally having caught his breath, Lelouch answered with a smile, "I'm legitimately nineteen. I just had to...grow up a bit faster than usual. There was a war back home, a war I had, have. I have a personal stake in. Anyhow, I was changed by the war myself, and ended up here after, well, being stabbed." He flashed a grin, looking too smug for a person telling a story about himself being killed.

"Comon, let's check on Sayaka before she brings the entire PHO community down on my head. I'll show you how an internet forum works while we wait for Iri," Lelouch walked back to Sayaka, clearly expecting him to follow.

Resigned to more bickering from the two, Ed followed, interested in spite of himself. It turned out that you can post comments online for everyone with an account on PHO to see, and that's basically it for the most part. It's a wonder how such a simple function grew into this...this trove of infromation, just because it connected people from all over the world.

Lelouch was still talking, "Sayaka was using my account just now, so all the posts by Zero is her. Know that people can use your account and there's no way to tell, so do NOT leave your password around for others to see."

Impulsively, Ed decided to screw with Lelouch a bit. He started typing on the tiny virtual keyboard on the screen, " _An... idiot... stole... my... phone... please... ignore... earlier... messages..._ aaaannnnd send."

Lelouch seemed to approve, "Good job. My sullied reputation has been restored. Thank you, good sir. However may I repay you?"

The indignant squawk cracked Ed up. _Hey, pretending to be a teen isn't too bad. I might as well enjoy this world as long as it lasts._

"Oh, it's on shorty!" Sayaka pulled out her own phone that was no doubt stolen goods that Lelouch somehow got working, and started typing furiously.

Ed hesitated for a bit, then after taking a deep breath, he screamed at the top of his voice with a huge smile on his face,"Who are you calling a midget that can fit under the soles of your shoes?!"

Iri arrived to three teenagers bickering among themselves.

FFN special A/N: Everytime I update FFN screws up the formatting. If you see one huge block of text, don't worry it'll probably be fixed in at most half an hour later.

A/N: Cut my left hand yesterday. Turned out you CAN type with one hand+ one finger, even if it's stupidly slow. And sometimes you forget and hurt yourself again. This chapter alone took nearly 10 hours, nearly an hour of which was spent researching FMA.

It seems there's many versions of FMA out there, so to make it clear, Ed is from the FMA manga. Which is reportedly very similar to FMA brotherhood, part of which I also watched. Father is still a bastard, Sloth is a giant dumbass, Wrath is the führer of the Sharingan and Pride is the scary ass shadow thingy. Ed got rid of his Gate and Truth refunded his and Al's bodies. Al married Mei the panda girl (not the panda). Ed married Winry after the most nerdy and awkward proposal in the history of anime/manga. He then traveled happily ever after, ironically searching for knowledge of the alchemy that he gave up. Then he died of old age. Then he ended up in Worm!Madison.

Anyways! The prologueish chapters that's supposed to flesh out each character is done. For a recap, Sayaka didn't really register the change of worlds, Lelouch decided to live a second life here, Iri's heart is still mostly back home, and Ed have trouble convincing himself that this is a real world even if he decided to enjoy it like a teen. Since this is my first time really writing anything, plz give some feedback on how well I presented that mindset through the last chapters or if I even presented it in anyway at all.

There's going to be a timeskip soon, as I realized they need to really get used to the world before they'll find something worth fighting for. I don't want this fic to turn into a slice of life.

 **Added a little part in chapter 3 to explain away Ed's kneejerk reaction that I thought I had written in chapter 1. 2018/06/14.**

Last edited: 2018/6/14


	5. Chapter 5 Ambition (Lelouch)

Chapter 5. Ambitions (Lelouch)

Otherwise known as Timeskip and PHO Shenanigans.

 **WARNING: THIS CHAPTER WAS WRITTEN WITH HEAVY USAGE OF BBCODE. FOR BEST EXPERIENCE, HOP OVER TO SUFFICIENT VELOCITY AND SEARCH FOR CULTURE SHOCK(WORM/CROSSOVER) BY ABAO.**

 **Parahumans Online**

You are currently logged in as Clairvoyant

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 **Topic: Extradimensional Exploration**

 **General ► Requests**

 **Iri** (Original Poster)(Verified Cape)(New Wave)

Posted on 2:45 PM January 8, 2010:

Is there a power that lets people cross to other earths?

 **(Showing page 1 of 1)**

 **Bagrat** (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Posted on 8:45 PM January 8, 2010:

AFAIK, the Protectorate and the government's stance on interdimensional travel is that barring extreme circumstances (apocalypse, hostile dimension invasion, etc.), only data transmission through radio waves is allowed. A war nearly broke out from the first time we made contact with Earth Aleph.

To answer your original question, the only cape known to do that is the deceased Tinker called Professor Haywire.

 **Iri** (Original Poster)(Verified Cape)(New Wave)

Posted on 12:45 PM January 13, 2010:

Bagrat Thx, sorry to hear about Professor Haywire.

Anyone else that can cross dimensions?

 **Iri** (Original Poster)(Verified Cape)(New Wave)

Posted on 8:25 PM January 20, 2010:

?

 **Iri** (Original Poster)(Verified Cape)(New Wave)

Posted on 4:05 AM February 27, 2010:

Bump

 **Iri** (Original Poster)(Verified Cape)(New Wave)

Posted on 5:15 PM March 13, 2010:

Bump

 **Iri** (Original Poster)(Verified Cape)(New Wave)

Posted on 10:41 AM March 25, 2010:

Bump

 **Iri** (Original Poster)(Verified Cape)(New Wave)

Posted on 8:02 AM July 27, 2010:

Bump

 **End of page. 1**

 **Topic: New member of BB Ward (Thread Locked)**

 **Boards ► Brockton Bay General ► Wards ► Shadow Stalker**

 **Shadow_Stalker** (Original Poster)(Verified Cape)(Ward)

Posted on 3:45 PM August 27, 2010:

I am the new member of the Brockton Bay Wards, joined as a probationary member.

Thank you.

 **(Showing page 13 of 13)**

 **AllSeeingEye** (Unverified Cape)

Posted on 3:46 PM August 27, 2010:

Too scared to face the _darkness_ alone? Good.

 **ConcernedCitizen**

Posted on 4:23 PM August 27, 2010:

I'd feel much safer if the SS bothered to make some actual effort to convince us that she's not going to be a hero in name only. I remember that man she nearly killed. Is that really what a real hero should do?

 **Clockblocker** (Verified Cape)(Ward)

Posted on 7:02 PM August 27, 2010:

Hey, stop picking on the new girl! I know that she's a pain in the ass to get alone with, doesn't talk to anyone, has a scary ass crossbow that she likes to point at me, and doesn't appreciate humor at all, but still! She has the balls to tempt Glenn Chambers the slave driver with _such_ an awesome introduction thread. That, alone, earned my respect.

 **GottaGoFast** (Banned)

Posted on 11:59 PM August 27, 2010:

WeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEE~~!

Tin_Mother: This is the 5th copy of the same message you posted in random threads. Please stop.

 **XXVoidCowboyXX** (Verified Troll)(Cape Groupie)

Posted on 11:25 AM August 28, 2010:

She is a plant by Coil, and if you don't believe me, here's proof.

 **Clairvoyant (Unverified Cape)**

Posted on 3:42 PM August 28, 2010:

We assure you that the villain Coil is in no way connected to Shadow Stalker. Standard procedure for taking on a reformed cape into the Wards includes a thorough background check, of which she passed. In fact, she was a vigilant known for tolerating no criminals before being inducted into the Wards.

 **ThomasCalvert** (PRT Consultant)

Posted on 3:43 PM August 28, 2010:

We assure you that the villain Coil is in no way connected to Shadow Stalker. Standard procedure for taking on a reformed cape into the Wards includes a thorough background check, of which she passed. In fact, she was a vigilant known for tolerating no criminals before being inducted into the Wards.

 **Tin_Mother** (Moderator)

Posted on 3:48 PM August 28, 2010:

Thread locked in accordance to M/S protocols. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 **End of Page. 1, …9, 10, 11, 12, 13**

 **Topic: PRT Not Doing Their ****ing Job**

 **Boards ► News ► Simurgh ► D.I.D.D.**

 **IRLsmileyface** (Banned)

Posted on 3:42 PM August 27, 2010:

****ing PRT revoked D.D.I.D.?! WTF my family is 3 days from taking their final test and this is what they ****ing do?! ****ing PRT left them to rot when the Simurgh attacked, imprisoned them after that for their own failure to protect people from the scream and now they decided to jail them forever?!1!? **** human rights because the PRT is lazy! **** this ****!

Tin_Mother: Ordinarily you will be banned but for the extenuating circumstances. However if this behavior continues, you WILL be banned. This is your final warning. Please refer to Rule 2.

 **(Showing page 7 of 7)**

 **RandomGuy**

Posted on 9:22 AM August 29, 2010:

One Mannequin is enough for the world. While I'm sympathetic to the people stuck in there, better a few thousand than the world.

 **Myrrdin** (Verified Cape) (Chicago Protectorate)

Posted on 10:31 AM August 29, 2010:

We cannot afford to track the Simurgh's survivors without D.D.I.D., but the identification itself caused heavy prejudice, which in turn pushed many the survivors to insanity from their already fragile psych.

The PRT is currently working on an alternative method to free them of the effect of the Simurgh's scream, but until then, please wait patiently.

 _To Dragon: I told you so._

 **LyricalSayakaOfJustice**

Posted on 11:32 AM August 29, 2010:

IRMsmileyface I thought we just answer some questions and then were let out? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

 **IRLsmileyface** (Banned)

Posted on 11:43 AM August 29, 2010:

Shut ur *****ing mouth ****tard stop pretending to be smth ur not

Tin_Mother: Banned for violation of Rule 3.

 **End of Page. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7**

You are posting as Clairvoyant.

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 **Post Message**

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Lelouch pulled his face off of the keyboard. He should have known Sayaka would be the one to give them away, but not like this. Other than that second day after they woke up in this world, Sayaka never displayed any of her powers, not even to her friends at Arcadia.

It was probably too much to ask for a middle schooler to keep quiet about cheating the quarantine, especially one so hung up on justice, righting wrongs and generally worrying Iri half to death by getting into some kind of trouble every other week.

 _She's a mostly normal fifteen year old civilian girl. I shouldn't be too hard on her._

He thought that Sayaka had learned discretion after outing Iri in front of the Chicago Protectorate the very next day after they left Madison. They had spent a tense few days wondering if anyone would recognize them as the witnesses of Krouse's flight back in Madison who should still be in quarantine, but thankfully no one did.

Later that week Iri decided that having a team to share the fame with will be a lot safer for her. Lelouch suspected she had just wanted to keep Sayaka out of the spotlight for being known as the unpowered idiot that charged into a cape fight. Especially after having learned that Sayaka was _very_ reluctant to use her power for some reason she hadn't shared.

They ended up in Brockton Bay because Iri took a liking to New Wave after a bit of a research. The unmasked Cape team was also desperate for new blood after so long without any new recruit. After a few "patrols" together mid August, they officially inducted Iri onto the team. Iri took the cape name "Iri", claiming she wouldn't hide behind a fake name, just like how a certain "Saber" would want her to.

They had more or less gotten the whole story of the Holy Grail war and her family back in her home world after the first few weeks. Iri coped with her feelings by talking about them whenever she felt lonely, which was getting less and less frequent lately.

The only saving grace with Sayaka's PHO comment was that Sayaka always used the school library computer to post on PHO with her LyricalSayakaOfJustice account and thankfully he caught her mistake less than an hour after she posted it, so Lelouch might be able to salvage the situation somewhat. He would have to switch to his Zero account to do the damage control, no need to risk linking Sayaka to the Thinker alias that he used for shady business.

Iri had used Sayaka's first account to troll multiple threads and got her banned, then she had changed Edward's PHO username from TallerThanThou to ShorterThanThou, using up the one time name-change privilege per account Edward had saved "just in case". Since then, there was an unspoken agreement between those two to _never_ log onto PHO in their little home just across from Arcadia where Iri might sneak up on them. The school library was close enough.

 _The face they made when Iri explained she respected that I actually have serious business on PHO was priceless when asked about her not screwing with me. I wonder when they'll figure out that I just typed too fast for Iri to follow._

A voice broke his amusing train of thought,"Alright class, upload your assignment to the class website, and you may go."

Mr. Green was a very nice teacher. He tolerated students doing anything in class as long as one finished the assignment given for the two hour period, as long as it doesn't affect others or break Arcadia's code of conduct. Lelouch had always finished his in the first fifteen minutes.

Lelouch closed his connection to a private VPN, then packed up his laptop. He'll have to continue this after lunch break.

.

.

.

Even Arcadia managed to create tasteless gruel out of real meat, expensive pasta and fresh vegetables. He caught Victoria complaining loudly to Amy and a few boys a couple tables over about the food, then decided that if even the locals hated it, he might as well skip lunch.

 _._

 _._

 _._

That night, Lelouch eagerly logged into PHO with Clairvoyant.

.

.

.

 **Private message from ThomasCalvert:**

 **ThomasCalvert:** What do you want?

.

.

.

Bingo.

Lelouch knew that Coil would take the bait. He had prepared too well for him not to.

Catching one of the goons armed in tinker tech laser rifles had been a pain in the ass even knowing what to look out for. Planting a bug in the villain's office was easy, but the bug itself still boggled his mind even now. The little notice me not circle on the camera itself Iri helped him with didn't even hide the transmission of the bug. Instead, people simply didn't notice it, not even when it was indirectly observed, its emitted signal captured on hand held scanners that Coil had used himself occasionally.

All there was left to do is to preempt one of Coil's messages while he mulled over over it, like he did whenever he made some important decision. XXVoidCowboyXX's comment had been the one Coil deemed important, he had likely weighed the good name of the PRT against a very slim possibility that he might draw suspicion. Too bad this message would be scrutinized over carefully with how Lelouch screwed him over.

The more Lelouch saw of Coil, the more the supposedly small time villain fascinated him. The man knew things he had no way to know of, planned and executed impressive plans with a 100% success rate, all the while never slipping up as a PRT consultant. However, one thing interested him the most.

 _Coil is terrified of Cauldron._

Lelouch had told Edward and Iri that he was searching for a way for them to return to their own world back in July, and that was why he needed the help with his spying. Iri jumped on board without further encouragement, but Ed seemed to enjoy his life at the community college, and wasn't really that thrilled when the subject came up. He still promised to help when Lelouch needed him to.

It wasn't even a complete lie, seeing as he had first took notice of Coil from tracking down ways for Iri to return to her world.

The trail started with the Travelers. It was pure luck that he saw a message Sundancer posted on PHO that hinted at certain discrepancies between their knowledge and Earth Bet's general state. She had deleted the message later that day, with Trickster suddenly posting a _very_ interesting video of him beating Uber and Leet in a Bomberman reenactment, likely trying to draw attention away from the slip up.

Lelouch had checked, Obama never ran for nor won the 2008 US presidential elections, nor were there any prominent figures with the same name on Earth Bet.

He had then messaged Trickster again and again trying to make him sympathize with their own circumstances until he coughed up Coil's name. It actually took three months of continuous messaging to learn his personality just for Lelouch's ploy to work. Lelouch had sent him a message after each session that simply stated that they met in the hospital in Madison, which triggered his command to Krouse eight months ago, once he knew Lelouch was one of the people he was ordered to forget.

Trickster led him to Coil's promise of returning them to Earth Aleph, which in turn led to the enigmatic Villain of Brockton Bay himself. However, the trail didn't end there. Behind Coil was Cauldron. The organization that even Coil was afraid of. The mysterious boogeyman of Earth Bet.

The group that _sold powers._

In the end, Lelouch simply couldn't be content living the life of a normal high schooler, even one who always scored the highest in the most prestigious school in a backwater city, half of which was festering in its own waste.

 **Private message to ThomasCalvert:**

I am Zero.

 **Send**

A/N: I'm bored. So more chapters :D

Anyways, some details I put in place of the timeskip's exposition. In case you missed some, here is a brief summary.

Ed is studying in a as of yet unnamed community college, Sayaka in Arcadia middle school, Ed in Arcadia High.

Iri was outed earlier, and very recently joined New Wave. Shadow stalker just joined the wards. People are not happy about that.

Lelouch spooked Calvert knowing that it's Coil's civilian identity.

Lelouch's Geass is unnoticeable by whatever Coil and the Traveler encountered.

Sayaka didn't share her condition with anyone yet, but she didn't really use any magic, so no worries.

School food sucks in Arcadia too (this is definitely not relevant)

Lelouch didn't recognize the Wards in civilian clothings. Shitty recognition skill for everyone will persist through the fic unless there's some extra clues or thinker powers involved.

Lelouch has two PHO accounts: Zero and Clairvoyant. I don't think I need to elaborate on who Iri LyricalSayakaOfJustice or ShorterThanThou belongs to.

Normal D.D.I.D. process involve extensive (some of them inhumane) psychological testing before you were even let out, continued monitoring with regular checkins once you were, a bird tattoo that mark you as a Simurgh survivor, and being legally required to inform employers/banks/courts/etc. of your exposure to the scream.

FFN special A/N: the PHO pages looked a LOT better with boxes in appropriate places, and some unicode symbols that for some reason didn't work on FFN.

Last edited: 2018/6/16


	6. Chapter 6 Al Fine (Sayaka)

Warning: Some violence.

Chapter 6 Al Fine (Sayaka)

It was a nice Friday afternoon.

School was over. The sky was nice and clear. There was no homework. Sayaka was happy.

 _Freedom!_

Sayaka could not wait for the New Wave meet and greet Iri planned for them this afternoon. _We're going to meet real life super heroes! I heard they go to Arcadia too. Hey! Lelouch didn't tell me about them! Sooooo not cool._

To the side, her new friends were just starting to chat.

"So, how was first week?" Cloe the blond ball of energy asked.

"Meh, it wasn't any different from elementary school," Kate said flippantly.

"Iri's taking me to meet New Wave today!" That earned a few annoyed looks, which quickly turned into interest.

Cloe seemed to be skeptical, but started gushing halfway through, "You know Iri personally? The new Hero in town? That's so cool! How did you meet? What is she like? Do you think I can come too?"

 _Oops. Iri said to not talk about how we landed in Madison, what to do. Hmmmmm._

After a very inconspicuous pause, Sayaka settled with a, "So anyways..." then ran out of what she wanted to say. Thankfully Lelouch picked that moment to walk in through the gate to pick her up because quote, in case you run off somewhere and forget the time, unquote. "My ride's here, see you guys~" She hastily bit out, then followed Lelouch out of school. _Smooth, Sayaka, very smooth._

They passed a store selling ice cream on the way through downtown. Sayaka gazed longingly at the treat, then turned to look at Lelouch pleadingly. The sweltering heat made the walk bothersome, even if Lelouch set a sedate pace.

Instead of the instantly shutting her down then caving into her repeated pleading, Lelouch simply didn't notice. The last few days had been like that. He constantly looked at his phone, like someone waiting for their crush to reply to a confession. _Lelouch confessing to a human being, now **that** is something I want to see. Smug bastard probably likes himself too much to notice girls._

Sayaka waved a hand in front of Lelouch, to no effect. She stuck the hand between him and his phone, and got batted away without eliciting even a word. Deciding enough is enough, Sayaka took out her own phone and PM'ed Lelouch.

 _"Yo. Lovesick much?"_

Lelouch looked up at her with an exasperated face, then went back to his brooding. A few moments later he suddenly jerked his head in her direction with a muttered "Shit!"

He looked around, then pulled her ear close to him and started whispering rapidly, "Log into your PHO with your phone now. Find the DDID thread that you posted on. Yes that one. Send a new message with these exact words: at IRLsmileyface you weren't there either, how do you know? Can you prove I'm not there? FYI, here's proof I am not lying." He sent her a picture of a fat middle aged man in a Pokemon T-shirt with a badly photoshopped bird tattoo on his neck, "Attach this picture to your reply."

"Wha...?"

"Just do it. You remember the first day out of Madison? This is the same, you just haven't caught much attention yet."

 _Oh._

"Oh." There wasn't much more to say. _What did I do wrong this time? Why is it so hard?_ Sayaka sent the post just as instructed. She hung her head after Lelouch checked over her work, and gave the ok.

Hesitantly, Lelouch satrted, "It's not really your fault. It takes a certain...vigilance built up over years in dangerous situations to internalize the rigorous censoring of your actions like I have," Lelouch continued looking far away, smiling as if at a fond memory, "Irisviel is determined to keep that innocence alive in us, but it is probably too late for me. I envy you that sometimes."

Struck speechless with more surprise than anything else, Sayaka felt oddly touched. Of all the people she knew, Lelouch was the last person she would expect to comfort her like that, or envying her. _(who'd have thought?) Certainly not with how he sometimes referred to me as that idiot._

Sayaka considered telling Lelouch about her deal with Kyubey and her fights with witches, just to let him know that she had seen dangerous situations. _I already told Iri, trying to explain why I did the thing that "outed" her. If I told Lelouch, he might be able to help her research that cleansing method she mentioned might help. What to do..._

"Get going, we're going to be late if you keep standing there catching flies." Lelouch threw over his shoulders from a block ahead. He continued walking when Sayaka stopped in surprise, now with a spring in his steps. _Way to ruin the moment, douchbag. At least that got him to stop staring at his phone._

"It's your fault for acting human for once, razor chin." Sayaka sniped back. She jogged a bit to catch up. Razor chin messed up her hair.

They continued in companionable silence, while Sayaka tried and failed to snoop Lelouch's "serious business" on PHO. It must be doing well if he paid for a laptop for himself when she herself had to rely on the meager allowance Iri gave her. _Where is Iri getting her money from anyway? I know New Wave doesn't pay her and she spends most of her time away from them running all around town or staying at home doing chores._

Sayaka continued to ponder the mystery all the way to Pizza Hot (Because no one out Pizzas the Hot). She spotted Iri and Ed waving at her from a full table by the windows. _That must be New Wave. They look so... normal._

Sayaka and Lelouch sat down to one side of Ed, right up against the window. The blond chatting with Ed quickly introduced herself and the quiet mousy brunette beside her as Vicky and Amy (Glory Girl and Panacea), and was about to continue. The stern woman who turned out to be Carol (Brandish) took over instead and introduced the rest. Vicky looked fine with that, but Amy shot Carol a dark look. Mark, or Flashbang, wasn't feeling up today and stayed at home.

Iri then introduced Ed, Lelouch and Sayaka to New Wave, as her adopted kids. Sayaka enjoyed Iri's fingers running through her hair, as was becoming customary whenever Iri hands were free around her. Sayaka didn't catch the name of Lady Photon and Manpower, but remembered the other blond girl Crystal and brown haired Eric being Laserdream and Shielder.

Sayaka left the adults to talk with each other, and tuned into Ed's enthusiastic one sided blabbering with a bewildered Vicky.

"...the delocalized carbon carbon bonds of benzene actually..." _Nope._

Sayaka paused her eating to turn to Amy, who just sat there restlessly checking the clock and occasionally sneaking weird glances at Ed and Vicky. She asked the quiet girl while motioning with her hand over at Ed, "You like what you see?"

Amy turned to her and slowly looked her up and down. She considered her words for a few moments, then bit out, "No." She turned back to brooding.

 _Well, that killed the conversation._ Sayaka briefly considered shouting over the noise to talk with Eric and Crystal, but then decided against it. She turned over to Lelouch, who was again browsing PHO on his phone, and sighed.

She briefly met Amy's eyes, and saw some of sympathy in her eyes. She decided to try her luck again, "So, super powers, huh. What do you do?"

Amy's face completely closed up, and stated stonily, "I heal. Everything except brains." She returned to picking at her food, head turned slightly away in clear dismissal. _What did I do now?!_

Sayaka joined Amy in brooding.

Lelouch swiped his phone and...logged in to PHO again. Ed was now asking Vicky about something called crystal structures. Vicky had a look of being out of her depths, eyes darting around likely looking for help. Her phone rang, and she excused herself. _Nice timing, whoever that is._

Sayaka nudged Ed, "Can't you see your idea of fun is boring her? 10 bucks says that she arranged that phone call just to get out of being talked to death."

Ed held up his hands sheepishly, "We have the same chemistry class even if we never talked, and I thought she'd like to talk about something simple and familiar." _You call that simple? Where did you come from, the world ruled by textbooks?_ Ed noticed her disbelieving look, and yielded to justice, "Alright. I'll let you chat. You can go do your girl thing when she get back. Sheesh, can't a man get some intelligent conversation around here?"

"Go bug Lelouch then, the douchbag is playing on his phone again" Sayaka said, "I'll show you how _real_ people chat."

"Be sure to dazzle her with real chat for me then. Speaking of which, She's been gone awfully long, hasn't she?" Ed made to walk off and look around, but was beaten by Amy.

"I'll go look see if she's ok," Amy was gone in a second.

Ed smirked at Sayaka. _Hey, it's not my fault, Amy is just that difficult to talk to._ She pretended not to notice and shoved another piece of pizza into her mouth. Then she chewed loudly at Ed. _Sucks to be him_.

Ed went back to his food with an exasperated shake of his head. Sayaka reached over and stole his piece of pizza, and earned a swat on her head courtesy of Iri. It seemed her conversation with the adults died down when they too noticed how long Vicky and Amy were gone.

Curiosity roused, Sayaka looked around and spotted them outside, on the sidewalk across the street. Vicky had her hands on the shoulders of a tall semi good looking dude, who looked he had just seen a ghost. Vicky seemed to be asking him something, but the guy looked to be breathing hard and not answering. Amy reached over and touched the guy, then said something while shaking her head. She backed off and settled against a street lamp, then looked darkly at the pair. _Let's see what's going on out there._

"I'll go look for them." Sayaka swallowed her pizza, then told Iri. Seeing a nod, she went out.

She reached the door of the restaurant, and stepped out into a wave of scalding heat. She glared at the hot afternoon sun that reminded her why she liked staying inside. Turning back to Vicky and co., Sayaka saw that the guy took one look at her approach, then started dry heaving hard. _Oooh boy, this looks bad._

Making sure not to get hit by a car, Sayaka quickly crossed the street. The voice of a slightly panicked Vicky reached her. "What is it, Dean? I can't help if you don't tell me. You're scaring me. Say something!" Urged by her words and fearing for the worst, Sayaka ran the rest of the way, "How can I..."

"Getitawayfromme!"

The guy screamed once, and raised his hand against Sayaka. Then a bright beam of light shot out of his hand and hit her, throwing her back a step. The guy was jerked to the side by Iri's now signature wires, and slammed into the pavement with a painful sounding crack. His beam was cut off, as he fainted.

Why did he attack me?! All I did was walk out! It's as if the whole world rejected me, all I do is make trouble for Iri! I just screwed up on PHO and I **still** don't know why, now a random guy attacks me out of nowhere.

Sayaka stood there shaking while she tried to swallow a sob. She heard a lot of footsteps running up to them, and felt Iri's terrified gaze on her. "Are you hurt? Do you feel any different? Is there..." _I outed Iri before. And I just screwed up her life as a hero, forcing her to attack a random parahuman in broad daylight. What use am I? Why do I even exist?_

"No! I was never fine! I'll run out of magic sooner or later! You might as well just kill me now, to save you the trouble when I run out of magic." Sayaka took out her rapidly darkening soul gem and held it towards Iri, "Now's a good time as any."

Iri jerked back in horror. Lelouch, finally having caught up, snatched Sayaka's soul gem away from her. He immediately turned to Iri with a thunderous expression and said, "Explain. Now."

Sayaka tuned out of Iri's response, and focused on Lelouch. The boy had a intense look like she had never seen before, as he finally got ahold of her secrets. _I knew it. You only bothered to put up with me because of my magic. I never should have trusted you._

Glory Girl stormed into her field of vision in fury, likely to avenge the stranger she obviously knew. She marched straight up to Iri, her unintelligible shouts promising violence.

 _But she has superhuman strength. She will kill Iri if I don't stop her._

In a fit of desperation, Sayaka leapt forward and snatched her soul gem back from Lelouch, shoving him back hard. She transformed in a flash of light the moment she touched her gem and leaped between Iri and the murderous Glory Girl. With a wordless snarl she swung the sword that suddenly appeared in her hands in a diagonal cut towards Glory Girl's torso, blade first. It was a perfect hit, her target not reacting in time to either dodge or block.

The slash was stopped by an invisible force right as she was about to connect.

Glory Girl bounced back a couple blocks' distance from her, spinning uncontrollably _but still in one piece_.

Time seemed to slow as chaos erupted. Panacea screamed. Brandish screamed, then from the sounds of her footsteps, charged at Sayaka. Lelouch simply stayed on the floor, still stunned. Ed started shouting something at the hero, but didn't help with his lightning trick she saw back in Madison.

There was the sound of shattering glass showering the ground in the direction of Pizza Hot. _The whole New Wave is out to get us._

Sayaka felt the hands of Iri on her shoulders. She was the only thing standing between Iri and certain death _. Focus on the fight._ Shrugging off the hands, Sayaka locked her gaze on Glory Girl's spinning form. _I'll take her out first, I can't fight on two fronts at once._ Intent on ending the fight before it even began, Sayaka shook off the hands on her shoulders and charged Glory Girl, sword up in a horizontal swing with her whole body's strength behind it.  
 _  
_  
Time started again as Glory Girl's mad tumble stopped just as suddenly as it started. She righted herself with a look of pure anger in her eyes, searching for Sayaka. It turned to surprise as she saw the blade bearing down on her a second time. With a satisfying boom, Sayaka knocked her flying.

Her blade stopped short a second time, but this time Glory Girl shot away over the roof of several buildings as if launched by a cannon.

Before Sayaka could switch her focus onto Brandish, she felt a point of sharp pain between her shoulder blades. _Brandish and her weapons of light._ "Drop your weapon, Villain. You are surrounded by ..."

Glory Girl's scream as she clipped a skyscraper's side cut off whatever Brandish was about to say, her hand faltering for a moment as the distraction drew her eyes away from Sayaka. _This is my chance._

Sayaka spun halfway around to the right, with her sword in a horizontal swing at chest height. However, instead of cutting through flesh, her sword was _melted_ by the light sword Brandish held, the tip of the blade flying off. Recovering much more quickly than Sayaka anticipated, Brandish turned back and plunged her weapon straight into Sayaka's right shoulder.

It _burned._ Unable to hold back a scream, she cried out, but immediately shut off her pain. She kicked Brandish in the knee as hard as she could and leaped back. Brandish screamed as her knee bent the other way, but somehow managed to throw a light spear at Sayaka before going down.

The spear was ignored as it went straight through her chest.

Sayaka resummoned a sword and swung at the downed Brandish, but her sword ricocheted off a wall that rose out of the street wreathed in blue lightning. Glancing to the side, she saw that Ed had his hands on the ground, and was looking right at her. _I thought you were on my side._

Sayaka made to run around the wall anyway, but was stopped short by silver strings that bound her arms and legs together. Silver strings that Iri used. _No. Please, not Iri too._

Sayaka barely registered the wall as it grew a bit taller and wider in another flash of blue lightning. Craning her neck, Sayaka managed to make out Iri with her hands outstretched at her. She was desperately shouting something to Lelouch.

 _What am I even fighting for?_

Lelouch rushed between her and Iri, then hesitated. Iri screamed at him "Just do it!"

 _All they see is a monster._

Iri screamed at Lelouch again while pointing at Sayaka's stomach. At her soul gem.

A monster to be killed.

Ed was now shouting at New Wave, no longer fighting now that Sayaka was down.

 _They are right. I am a monster._

Lelouch met Sayaka's eyes. She saw a savage glint in those eyes she never noticed before.

 _How did I ever forget?_

" ** _Lelouch vi Britannia commands..._** "

 _I am so, so stupid._

The world was blown away as a new one took it's place.

Darkness descended.

A/N

Brandish and GG overreaction fixed. _Gallant still lost his shit with just sensory overload._ Sayaka lost her shit the moment her spiral started. Everyone lost their shit halfway through the fight as people got hurt.

Sayaka witched out. I don't want to take that back once it's out already, and my other plans didn't work out either, so the events mostly stayed the same.  
1\. Taken for M/S because to Gallant she looked like a puppet controlled by a small device, then being treated to a dose of Armmaster interrogation, but I can't get her to stay long enough in that kind of condition before Iri got Lelouch involved and they got her out.  
2\. Amy noticing her body being strange (the "healing" part of normal metabolism doesn't work like normal) then outing her as someone with powers but without a corona pollentia; this would probably trigger Lelouch more than Sayaka. IIRC there's something about Amy not admitting to knowing about corona pollentia with all her no brains policy, but maybe it's fanon... doesn't matter either way.

On a totally different note, I am now officially a NEET. Gotta start looking for jobs, now that all the graduation shit is done.

Last updated: 2018/07/07


	7. Chapter 7 A Taste of Grief (Irisviel)

Note that the last third of Ch.6 was rewritten on 2018/07/07. Mostly the same events transpired, so this chapter would still make as much sense as it should even if you're still on the older version of Ch.6.

Chapter 7 A Taste of Grief (Irisviel)

Iri watched as Sayaka fought off Carol and her daughter. The fight was unexpected, brutal, and an one sided slaughter. Sayaka had the air of an experienced killer, with the single minded intent on ending her opponents while the New Wave wasn't even sure they wanted to fight. Even after Vicky's defeat, Carol held back until her broken knee took her out of the fight.

Then she threw a bar of light through Sayaka.

Iri nearly attacked her right there, but the immediate closing of the hole in Sayaka's chest stopped her short. Sayaka then proceeded to ignore the wound and ran to the downed Carol with a new sword raised, doubtless to deliver a killing blow. Iri finally unfroze as Ed's intervention stopped Sayaka from finishing Carol off and shielding them all from the lasers Sarah's family. A glimpse told her that Sayaka's soul gem was more black than blue by now. _Sayaka will witch out if the fight continues. I must stop them. I don't know what it entails, but the process will kill Sayaka and result in a monster._

Iri shared a look with Ed, and understanding passed between them. Trusting him to deescalate on the Pelham family's front, Iri bound Sayaka in her wires and turned to Lelouch, "Stop her. Do your hypnosis thing!"

Sayaka craned her neck to look at Iri, and the betrayal on her face broke Iri's heart. _I'll make it up to you once this is over. I promise._

Lelouch hurriedly interposed himself betweeen Sayaka and her, but hesitated, clearly weary of showing his own power in public. He sent a questioning look at Iri, clearly reluctant. Iri screamed at him while pointing at Sayaka's soul gem,"Just do it! She will die if that turns black!"

Lelouch shuddered, then quickly turned back to Sayaka. He didn't bother with any theatrics, immediately starting his words.

 ** _"Lelouch vi Britannia commands..."_**

To Iri's horror, Lelouch never finished that sentence.

A howling gale originating from Sayaka blew him clean off his feet, along with all the gathered people. Iri desperately tried to crawl forward against the wind once she landed halfway across the street, to do something, anything that might stop Sayaka from dying.

Sayaka dropped her sword, and fell in a boneless heap like a doll with strings cut. Her glassy eyes unfocused, face locked in the self-loathing grimace she had adopted sometime during Iri's lapse of attention. Sayaka's clothes changed back to the t-shirt and jeans she wore to the meeting in a flash.

What caught Iri's attention even in her struggle, however, was the beautiful gem that once shone a brilliant teal, now dyed pitch black floating serenely in the middle of the storm, slowly drifting up and away from Sayaka's motionless body.

Iri felt a crack distinctly through the roar of the wind. It resonated deep within her soul, more than just a sound. Reality seemed to take on a surreal texture, an overlay across all senses hinting at something _wrong_.

The world held its breath for a moment, as if waiting for something to happen. Iri continued trying to advance.

A mere two meters away from Iri's attempt at reaching Sayaka, the cracked surface of the gem shattered. From its depth, a metallic construct that looked like an eye emerged. A hollow circle with a colorless disk in the center, two spikes jutting out from the top and bottom. The _wrongness_ grew as between one blink and the next, the whole construct grew larger, two more horizontal spikes jutting out from the side.

The thing looked like a cross now, with the hollow circle replacing the intersection. The construct's bottom spike dug into something midair, and the central disc broke. The wind intensified, too strong for Iri to withstand, forcibly pushing her back despite being flat on the street.

There was a chaotic swirl of colors as Iri glimpsed a world that defied all common sense, overlaid with strange symbols that followed the movement of her eyes. An endlessly road flanked by glass windows where balls of cotton with mustaches sat perfectly still, lit by a red and black sun bearing down like a furnace. In the distance, ever-changing scenery passed by, unnaturally blurred no matter how hard Iri tried to focus on them. A forlorn melody drifted through her consciousness, beckoning her to lay down and rest.

Before it really sunk in, the scene returned to normal as the construct sucked the strange world into itself and disappeared.

All that was left was a lingering feeling of wrongness, a well of wild power concentrated in a single point where the construct disappeared, and the lifeless body of a child Iri started to care for like her own.

 _No no no no this can't be happening. She was just talking and laughing with Ed a minute ago!_

Iri rushed toward Sayaka's body the moment the wind stopped, but she knew even before touching that it was just an empty shell now. Sayaka had told her the fate of all magical girls. She had turned into a witch, an eldritch abomination that allegedly prowled her home world, born from the grief and despair of Magical Girls.

Iri held Sayaka's body anyway, hoping against hope that there's a spark of life left in the husk. Her heart clenched painfully, as she found not a single speck of her soul left the body. It was in her gem, but now that the gem shattered and gave birth to the construct...

 _Witch is Sayaka. I saw it transform myself. Must look for witch. How?_

Iri stumbled to the concentration of power. Reaching out a hand without even a moment of hesitation, she felt nothing as her hand passed through empty air. _It can't be nothing. Sayaka said magical girl turns into witch. Must find it._

I _**will**_ _find it._

Metaphysically gazing at the concentration of power and focusing all her prana into the her wish, Iri **believed**.

And so it was. A portal opened into a dark corridor, not the landscape Iri glimpsed before. A curiously small amount of prana was consumed to grant her wish. Without thought, Iri ran straight into the portal.

Once through, Iri found herself in not the desolate landscape she glimpsed earlier, but a huge stadium that rapidly approached her. The music she heard battered against her from all sides, and directly across from her, a monster sat on a throne, radiating a twisted power. Iri couldn't find any resemblance to Sayaka in the aura. A shadowy band continued playing in the background, directed by a larger shadow. The ignored Iri. _That's the witch._

The witch greeted her with an upraised arm.

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Stage lights focused on Iri bathing her in a scalding ray, and wooden wheels appeared in the sky. They started spinning, and flew towards Iri with a sudden jerk. Realizing the attack for what it was, Iri formed a net of crisscrossed wires and reinforced it. The impromptu shield held the battering, but another gesture from Sayaka's witch sent more.

"Sayaka it's me! Iri!" Iri shouted at the witch over the crash as more wheels slammed into her shield, "Snap out of it! I know you always wanted to fight for justice! I found the way to cleanse your soul gem for you so you can do that!"

More wheels were her only reply. Her shield held strong, but Iri lost her footing and fell back, the primal fear of large objects flying at her overcoming even her desire to reach out.

She continued to cry out on the floor, "I'm sorry Sayaka, I just didn't want you to be hurt! I knew they wouldn't continue the fight if we talked it out, restraining you was the only way! Please!"

The sky filled with hundreds of wheels. The music grew louder. The witch pointed its sword directly at Iri.

"Come home..." Her shouts were lost in the resulting crash as the wheels connected with her shield, snapping a few wires but not penetrating. A transparent shield stood between Iri and her wire shield a moment after the collision. It took Iri a moment to realize that half the wheels were aimed away from her. A hand helped her back to her feet. _Ed.  
_

Looking around, Iri saw that the Pelham family was now a little ways her, preparing for a battle. Ed was staring at the Sayaka's witch in confusion. She couldn't see anyone else with them.

"Is that...?" Ed ventured.

Iri shook her head, unable to hold back her tears now, "That's not Sayaka. She died when her soul gem shattered. This, this a witch. It's..." She knew she was deluding herself calling out to the monster, but finally saying it out loud seemed to make it real. _Sayaka would want us to kill the monster, now that she's not around to do it herself._ "a monster to be killed," The sentence left a bitter taste in Iri's mouth, but also lifted a weight on her shoulders. It did nothing to her grief.

No matter how much she wanted Sayaka back, leaving the witch to roam freely would just result in it spreading misery and death to the uninitiated. Sayaka wouldn't want that to be her legacy. Iri wiped her tears dry, and faced the witch, determined to end it.

 _I think I finally understand the burden you carry, Kiritsugu._

Another wheel impacted with her shield, finally shattering it, then was repelled by Eric's, no Shielder's shield. _We're in a fight now._ Nodding thanks to the boy, Iri failed to force the smile that usually accompanied the gesture. She received a sympathetic but somewhat guarded look for her trouble.

Iri could barely make out the battle through the stage lights shining directly into her face. Up in the air, Laserdream and Lady Photon was peppering the witch with lasers to little effect, dodging the wheels and burning what they couldn't. They were missing almost all their own attacks as the witch moved with unnatural jerks. A lucky shot burned a hole through the free arm of the witch as Iri was looking.

They warily stayed far out of range of the huge sword, not taking the chance to take a better shot at close range and risk getting hit by the weapon jerking around in bursts. _A stalemate, which would end with either a very luck shot on either side or when New Wave tired._

Her clothes started smoldering slightly. _Or when I get baked alive._

Accessing the situation, Iri came to the conclusion that the best way to help would be to limit the witch's mobility. She crafted her wires into a bird all the way to the sword arm of the witch, intending to bind it. The fake familiar was targeted by wheels the moment the witch noticed the ploy. Iri made it accelerate with a burst of prana, messing up the structure and snapping it in a few places, but it landed on the intended target.

Her vision was briefly obstruct by a wheel shattering on Shielder's shield, but managed to use the three separate pieces of wire to bind the sword arm of the witch to its crown. The music reached a crescendo.

A long burst of laser from Laserdream burned a hole through the center mass of the witch a moment later. The witch vainly tried to struggle out of Iri's wires. The lights focused on the witch's head, sparing Iri from the heat. The witch toppled to the stage with a huge crash.

The director of the band stabbed the witch in the back with its wand. The symphony stopped mid-note, the whole band stilling unnaturally in their poses.

 _What._

Iri focused her attention on the director. Instead of doing anything sinister, it bowed to them, and darted out the door of the stadium, which melted and faded away. The whole stadium followed quickly. Iri's surrounding twisted as reality fought with the world they were in.

It took a moment for her to get her bearings, the high from the battle finally wearing off. A normal sun shone on Iri once more, as she found herself along with Ed and the Pelhams standing in the middle of the street right in front of Pizza Hot.

The clear sound of metal striking asphalt brought Iri's attention to a black sphere encased in dark twisted metal. The Grief Seed of Sayaka's witch.

The thing that saves magical girls is born from the death of another. How fitting, that the whole system of despair IS a hopeless trap right from the start.

With the bitter thoughts plaguing her mind, Iri picked up the grief seed with both hands. _Sayaka's sole legacy, a twisted version of her beautiful soul gem._

 _I'm sorry Sayaka._

Iri gripped the grief seed with all her strength, holding it to her chest. She ignored the blood dripping down her hand.

Without an immediate threat to focus on, the events of the past hour finally sank in.

Iri collapsed to her knees, and keened.  
 _  
_  
A/N  
RIP Sayaka. Your fluffy hair will be missed.

I wanted to write the chapter in Octavia's POV, but it'll miss soooo many details with its inhuman perspective that I'll probably need half a chapter of a retrospective info dump. So Iri it is.

About the fight, I figured if Kyoko can kamikaze the witch despite throwing the first half of the fight while protecting a lvl1 noob, Octavia probably wasn't that good in a fight, especially against multiple people with barriers that won't run out of juice faster because of messed up emotions.

On another note...OMFG the timeskip screwed me over. I shouldn't have done that, problems are popping out everywhere because of that.

Last updated: 2018/07/07


	8. Q&A and the Joys of Nasulore

Here I answer questions that either amuses me or complies with the rules listed in What Questions I answer. Maybe spoilers. Probably nerdy. Many of them are discussions imported from SV.

For ease of navigation,

X's coner is where questions significantly more important to one character than everone else goes.

General is where questions I can't fit in any single X's corners goes.

 **Sayaka's corner**

Q. Can the 3 other crossee clean soul gem?

A. Iri can. Einzbern alchemy deals with both material and souls. Ed cannot. Philosopher's stone shenanigan is a one way street from souls to stored alchemical energy.

Q. Can Lelouch just order Sayaka to never despair?

A. He can. It will work just as well as it worked for Shirley in Code Geass canon.

 **Ed's corner**

Q. Can Ed pull a steel spear out of a stone floor like in canon?

A. That's a stone spear in canon. Polished stone. That looks like metal. WoG says it's stone :D

Q. Which version of FMA is this Ed from?

A. The manga. Which has generally the same plot as FMA Brotherhood(Or so I've heard).

 **General**

Q. When did I pull the characters out of canon?

A. Iri when she died to Kirei. Ed mentally when he died of old age but physically right before he lost the ability to alchemy after stopping Father and restoring Al's body. Sayaka mentally after the Kyoko Kamikaze but before Godoka, physically before witchout. Lelouch right after Zero Requiem.

Q. Alaya=C's world? Root/Akasha=Truth?

A. Yes.

Q. Discussion where?

A. : Sufficient Velocity forum, search for thread Culture Shock (Worm/Crossover). Loads of expert Nasulore there.

Q. Servants/QB/literally anything else cross over?

A. No. Never. 4 peeps is enough to lose track of for me.

Q. Where on Worm's timeline did this happen?

A. Dec 2009, when the travelers got dumped in Madison by the Simurgh in the Migration Arc. About one and a half year before canon.

Q. What is the D.D.I.D?

A. Normal D.D.I.D. process involve extensive (some of them inhumane) psychological testing before you were even let out, continued monitoring with regular checkins once you were, a bird tattoo that mark you as a Simurgh survivor, and being legally required to inform employers/banks/courts/etc. of your exposure to the scream.

Last edited: 2018/06/16


	9. What questions I answer(WoG)

This fic should be canon consistent up to the point the character got taken here from their original stories. Whatever the disappearance of said characters in the original universe causes WILL NEVER AFFECT THIS FIC. The only time anything, characters, events, deities or anything really, crossover into the worm verse is the four 'immigrants' in the summary.

This fic is also written with fallible narrators. If, say, a Sayaka chapter contains a sentence like "the fedora lady is useless in a fight", that's not the WoG, that's just Sayaka being Sayaka.

I will only answer questions with WoG regarding:  
1\. my take on canon, and thus also this fic's inconsistencies with canon. Refer to the fifth point for typemoon canon.

2\. something people tend to miss that was already in the story from earlier chapters (sometimes I'll just write it out more clearly if it's not readily apparent).

3\. Idiot balls, heavy OOCness, plot armor, etc. I hate them, so if you convince me this is the case I'll probably rewrite a lot of somethings. Otherwise I'll explain it away using whatever canon provides me with.

Current rewrite count: 1

4\. "why would powerset A trump powerset B in the fight in chapter X". I will not introduce new powersets into the fic, so this falls under the first and second point. If I really do introduce new powersets, it'll be native wormverse shard bullshit. I'm pretty wary of touching one of those, so it's not really likely that will happen anytime soon.

5\. Typemoon lore is a mess. Typemoon Lore Is A Mess. TYPEMOON LORE IS A MESS. (Screams internally)

6\. Things that doesn't contain spoiler.

7\. Replies can be found in Q&A and the Joys of Nasulore

Crossposted on SV under username Abao. Just to preempt accusations of stealing from myself.

Last Edited: 2018/6/17


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